To Never Fail
by Guardian Angel One
Summary: A short story about Amarah and Michelle. Kind of an attempt to unite the story of Haruka and Michiru with their dubbed counterparts.


To Never Fail

By Guardian Angel One (pure_angel_i@yahoo.com)

Rated G

The tallest structure in the solar system, perhaps even in the Universe, was Miranda Castle's Symphony Tower. There, the wind didn't blow- it screamed, moaned, held a voice. Deep and endless, it would resonate through the tower walls, ripple through the restless air inside, and echo in the bones of whoever braved the climb and listened to it- the dangerous symphony that haunted its audience.

There was a single window that looked to the west, towards the main city. Only four people had looked through this window- King Uranus, Queen Uranus, the princess, and Princess Serenity. Amarah's first memory had been being taken up there by her parents. 

Looking down, all she could see was various shades of dark blue and gold instead of the endless miles of roads, towns, and training bases. The only holiday on Uranus, the Week of Wind, would start the next day, and the town was about ready for it.

The Week of Wind lasted five Earth days, with each day given to celebrate the North, West, South, and East wind, and the final day used to celebrate their harmonious existence. All traffic to and from the planet ceased, and everyone would be wearing fine silks of blue and gold jewelry, dancing and singing with the wind. Hardly any food would be eaten during the week and no work whatsoever should take place- the wind could not be weighed down or restricted. 

She tilted her head, ignoring the wind's screams through her body so she could hear the underlying lyrics that whispered directly to her heart. _You think you're alone. You think you're strong. _

Amarah didn't know what she was except for strong. She was the soldier of the heavens with a mission to protect a kingdom. She and three others would forever guard this place alone. 

Alone. What a cold word it was. She was alone on this planet. She was the one with the powers of Uranus, the one who could unleash the powers of the sky and air around her enemies, and yet she had almost never been off her planet. _You claim to be the wild wind, yet you tumble down the same old path._

She had never been called from her planet to do battle. No one to date had attempted to violate the Silver Millennium. A simple monitoring job done from the planet and training was all she had known. That was her mission. To be a solitary wind, racing around the solar system, never allowing any interference along her course. The others would protect the Solar System in their own ways- different ways, so should anything pass by her, it wouldn't pass the others. 

The thirteen-year-old closed aqua eyes that misted with tears. Immediate, the tears were torn from her face by the force of a breeze. _Wild wind, strong wind, solitary wind..._ _The wind can only exist alone for so long..._ _It is playful by nature, needing a companion to race with, to exchange strength, to measure it's wildness by..._

But who? Amarah beseeched the wind. My life is a lonely hurricane. I will measure my strength by my ability to stay alone. Isn't that wild enough?

__

Nothing can match the winds of destiny.

Tap, tap. A soft matronly wind carried the muted sounds of two feet fall to stone. Amarah opened her eyes wide, awaiting the air to reveal the intruder. Her parents were at the festival site, with the preparations underway. No one else had access up there. _Wind, who have you brought? Why allow this defilement?_

Sliding off to the side, Amarah blended well with the dark blue and gold of the banners that hung slightly away from the wall, rippled by the laughing wind. The wind carried her soft noises away from prying ears. 

A blue velvet shadow entered with a swish. It swished over to the window Amarah had been at and leaned out. Through slitted eyes, Amarah watched the form shuffle its mass about, the swishing sound in tune with the hum of the wind. 

All of a sudden, the wind quieted, and the swishing stopped. And faintly, a new solitary sound grew in the absence. A deep, radiating sound that told of hopes and dreams, of wishes and reflections. Something that harmonized with the now responsive wind. 

Feeling the music, Amarah pulled over a hood and stepped out behind the figure and silently called the wind, pulling her fingers through the air to tangle with her constant friend. It was a beautiful symphony, and Amarah felt her soul and the other person's mix, playing together, drawing strength from each other.

After a few minutes, the figure had turned around and Amarah's hands were tangled in the wind, rapidly twisting to create a lilting tune that matched the figures melody. It wasn't long until the figure let her spirit run free and swayed her hips in time with the beat. Amarah watched through hooded eyes at the figure, gliding through the air. And Amarah matched her, step for step. Together, they began gliding through the air, letting their music guide them, coming together and repelling and repeating. Amarah would rush by her in a flurry, and the girl would reach out, only to curve and slap Amarah's presence away. 

Time seemed to lose existence, and silence found no shelter in the tower as the two danced and sang and laughed and played.

Suddenly, she stopped. Amarah found herself staring straight into aqua eyes, exactly like hers. Wavy aqua hair cascaded around her shoulders, ruffled by the wind, and tiny seashells clattered through the waves. She was half a foot shorter, but managed to seem very tall and dignified to Amarah. 

That was how Amarah met Michelle. 

They stayed in that tower for five days; they talked, danced, sang, and shared lives. Amarah finally felt real- not just a solitary gust of wind, but a playful Zephyr challenging a stormy sea. She was alive with Michelle's energy and presence, while Michelle sparkled with a force she had never been allowed to feel. 

Michelle swished to the window in her aqua gown. "I came for my ancestor's festival and I've missed it entirely. Your presence is to strong and stubborn- you should have let me go."

"Ancestor's?"

The girl turned back, aqua eyes foaming with tears. "I am not of Uranus. I am of the cousin race, the planet Neptune."

Amarah's heart shattered. Forbidden. They were of different Outer planets. It was forbidden for contact to any of the Outer planets, and no one of the Outer planets may talk to anyone from anyone not from their home planet. 

"Should we distract ourselves for the sake of conversation? The Queen has given us a duty- we must uphold it." Amarah's mother had decreed, along with the other Outer Queens. The law only stopped for Sailor Pluto, who never saw anyone but the Queen anyway.

"Forbidden," Amarah whispered. 

__

We are cousin races, Michelle explained. Any relationship is only headed for disaster. We cannot be together.

Amarah stared at the fading glitter that was Michelle, as the winds converged to drive her away. 

It would not be the last time they met before they died in each other's arms. Yet no one would know- they had died in each other's arms outside the Solar System, shortly after Beryl's attack. Pluto looked at their still forms and took the _seppuku _swords out of their hands.

**

Amarah felt the wind kick up and ruffle her blond hair as she shifted up the narrow stairs. Gracefully she glided past doors and signs and stares of people who wondered at the new boy until she reached the top of the building. There, she opened the door and stepped into a beautiful symphony of wind and violin. 

She only had to wait a minute for Michelle to finish the piece. "Amarah, the seas are restless, anxiously holding something inside them." 

"Silence does that to the seas and the wind. That's why the sea washes away and the wind blows."

Humming, Amarah approached Michelle, who turned to her. "Fate has still decreed us cousins. We shouldn't be together. Neptune-"

"-And Uranus are partners." Amarah turned to the darkening sky over the new Infinity building. "Those laws died long ago with the Silver Millennium. It's up to us to continue to the best of our ability."

"So the mission lives on?"

Amarah watched the wind pick a few blossoms up and swirl them through the air, framing the rising moon.

"For as long as the moon and tides work together, the wind will be there to defend this planet, all that is left of this Solar System."

Warm hands. "Yes."


End file.
